The Players Championship R4

Justin Thomas wins 14th title

Players Championship 2021 R4
March 11-14
TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
$15,000,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 3




Justin Thomas started his round three shots behind leader Lee Westwood and closed with a 4-under 68 to finish 14-under and win The Players Championship by one shot.



“I fought so hard today,” said Thomas. “It’s probably one of the best rounds of my life tee-to-green. I’ve seen some crazy stuff happen on TV in the past, and I’m glad to be on this side of it.”

He started his round uneventfully with pars on the first seven holes and closed his front nine with bogey at the 8th and birdie at the 9th. His back nine started birdie-eagle-birdie, he then bogeyed the 14th and birdied the 16th with a 50-foot putt before another 50-footer for par on the 17th secured his lead. His approach on the 18th settled on the fringe, his first missed green of the day, and he two-putted for par and his fourteenth PGA victory.




Westwood’s front nine was more dramatic featuring three bogeys after finding the water and clipping trees and two birdies to turn in 37, still in the lead. He lost it to Thomas’ opening three holes on the back nine and regained a share with a birdie at the 14th but closed his round bogey-birdie for a 72 and finished runner-up for the second week running.

“The week has been great. I didn’t play my best golf today by any stretch of the imagination, but I battled it out. I was proud of myself for that,” said Westwood. “People question whether I can hole putts under pressure, and I rolled in a lot of must-make putts all day, really, whether it be for par or the great birdie on 14.”



“I felt like I put maximum effort in today. I didn’t really have the strike. I didn’t really have much direction. I was on the edge all the time, it felt like. I wasn’t as good as I played the first three days, but you have days like that, where you just have to grind it out. It’s a battle sometimes. That’s championship golf. If you don’t like it, you’re in the wrong job.”

Playing partner Bryson DeChambeau’s front nine was also frought with difficulty. His double bogey at the 4th started when his tee shot with his hybrid flew 143 yards and found the water.

“I was trying to hit more of a low bullet and just kind of caught the heel, a little high on the thing. It wasn’t really a top, it was more like a thin ball that just had no spin on it and just knuckled,” said DeChambeau.

“Just one of those things I tried to squeeze and hit it too hard, got on top of it and hit it thin. Caught the grass below it and just never got any height.”

He took a penalty drop, hit his next shot hard right and landed in the trees.

“My 4-iron cracked. I looked at the bottom of the thing. I couldn’t use it all day. It sounded really weird and just came off horrifically, and I’m like, oh , and there’s a line in the bottom of the club.”




He closed with a 71 after shooting two more bogeys, three birdies and an eagle at the 16th and tied for third alongside Brian Harman (69).

“I fought really hard,” said DeChambeau. ” It just seemed like something wasn’t going my way today for some reason. Just I could feel it. It was weird. (But) I can play on golf courses that don’t really suit me. That’s a big lesson. I’d also say, no matter what happens, no matter if I top a shot, I’m still never out of it for the most part. I know my game is good enough in most facets to get it back and compete with the best of them.”



Pos.
Player
To Par
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
1
Justin Thomas
-14
71
71
64
68
274
2
Lee Westwood
-13
69
66
68
72
275
T3
Brian Harman
-12
67
71
69
69
276
T3
Bryson DeChambeau
-12
69
69
67
71
276
T5
Talor Gooch
-11
71
68
71
67
277
T5
Paul Casey
-11
73
67
67
70
277
7
Corey Conners
-10
68
72
72
66
278
8
Shane Lowry
-9
68
74
69
68
279
T9
Charles Howell III
-8
73
70
71
66
280
T9
Daniel Berger
-8
74
68
71
67
280
T9
Jason Kokrak
-8
70
72
71
67
280
T9
Victor Perez
-8
73
71
69
67
280
T9
Si Woo Kim
-8
72
70
67
71
280
T9
Sergio Garcia
-8
65
72
71
72
280
T9
Matthew Fitzpatrick
-8
68
68
72
72
280
T9
Jon Rahm
-8
72
68
67
73
280
T17
Sungjae Im
-7
72
66
77
66
281
T17
Charley Hoffman
-7
70
68
76
67
281
T17
Ryan Palmer
-7
70
72
68
71
281
T17
Cameron Smith
-7
71
73
65
72
281
21
Will Zalatoris
-6
70
71
70
71
282
T22
Dylan Frittelli
-5
71
68
76
68
283
T22
Tyler McCumber
-5
72
69
72
70
283
T22
J.T. Poston
-5
76
68
69
70
283
T22
Patrick Reed
-5
70
72
70
71
283
T22
Tom Hoge
-5
69
71
71
72
283
T22
Adam Long
-5
70
74
67
72
283
T22
Abraham Ancer
-5
72
70
68
73
283
T29
Cameron Percy
-4
73
70
73
68
284
T29
Keegan Bradley
-4
70
72
73
69
284
T29
Adam Hadwin
-4
74
69
71
70
284
T29
Joaquin Niemann
-4
73
71
70
70
284
T29
Harry Higgs
-4
71
73
67
73
284
T29
Doug Ghim
-4
71
67
68
78
284
T35
Ryan Moore
-3
75
69
71
70
285
T35
Phil Mickelson
-3
71
72
71
71
285
T35
Brendon Todd
-3
74
69
71
71
285
T35
Jason Day
-3
70
71
71
73
285
T35
Patton Kizzire
-3
70
69
72
74
285
T35
Lanto Griffin
-3
73
71
68
73
285
T41
Collin Morikawa
-2
71
73
76
66
286
T41
James Hahn
-2
76
67
74
69
286
T41
Louis Oosthuizen
-2
73
69
74
70
286
T41
Zach Johnson
-2
75
68
72
71
286
T41
Brendan Steele
-2
72
72
71
71
286
T41
Kyoung-Hoon Lee
-2
72
71
71
72
286
T41
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
-2
70
72
71
73
286
T48
Dustin Johnson
-1
73
70
73
71
287
T48
Adam Scott
-1
72
71
73
71
287
T48
Michael Thompson
-1
71
73
72
71
287
T48
Lucas Glover
-1
75
69
72
71
287
T48
Nick Taylor
-1
70
74
72
71
287
T48
Jordan Spieth
-1
70
74
68
75
287
T48
Chris Kirk
-1
72
65
71
79
287
T55
Denny McCarthy
E
69
69
75
75
288
T55
Matt Jones
E
73
71
70
74
288
T55
Ryan Armour
E
74
68
71
75
288
T58
Billy Horschel
1
71
73
71
74
289
T58
Brian Stuard
1
74
68
72
75
289
T58
Kramer Hickok
1
74
68
72
75
289
T61
Scott Harrington
2
72
71
77
70
290
T61
Jhonattan Vegas
2
73
71
72
74
290
T61
Harold Varner III
2
70
73
71
76
290
T61
Scott Brown
2
71
70
72
77
290
T65
Patrick Rodgers
3
74
70
73
74
291
T65
Aaron Wise
3
73
71
72
75
291
T67
Rory Sabbatini
4
69
75
74
74
292
T67
Russell Knox
4
71
73
72
76
292
T69
Martin Laird
5
73
71
76
73
293
T69
Scott Piercy
5
73
70
71
79
293
71
Nate Lashley
6
74
69
75
76
294
CUT
Emiliano Grillo
1
71
74
145
CUT
Bernd Wiesberger
1
75
70
145
CUT
Marc Leishman
1
71
74
145
CUT
Mark Hubbard
1
78
67
145
CUT
Luke List
1
73
72
145
CUT
Scottie Scheffler
1
74
71
145
CUT
Brice Garnett
1
74
71
145
CUT
Sebastián Muñoz
1
71
74
145
CUT
Hideki Matsuyama
1
76
69
145
CUT
Tyrrell Hatton
1
76
69
145
CUT
Adam Schenk
1
72
73
145
CUT
Peter Malnati
2
76
70
146
CUT
Robby Shelton
2
75
71
146
CUT
Kevin Streelman
2
73
73
146
CUT
Bubba Watson
2
76
70
146
CUT
Pat Perez
2
77
69
146
CUT
Tommy Fleetwood
2
75
71
146
CUT
Bo Hoag
2
74
72
146
CUT
Danny Lee
2
72
74
146
CUT
Gary Woodland
2
70
76
146
CUT
Viktor Hovland
2
72
74
146
CUT
Webb Simpson
2
71
75
146
CUT
Max Homa
2
73
73
146
CUT
Andrew Putnam
2
74
72
146
CUT
Stewart Cink
2
76
70
146
CUT
Doc Redman
2
73
73
146
CUT
Joel Dahmen
2
72
74
146
CUT
Cameron Tringale
3
73
74
147
CUT
Branden Grace
3
74
73
147
CUT
Mackenzie Hughes
3
75
72
147
CUT
Robert Streb
3
76
71
147
CUT
Steve Stricker
3
70
77
147
CUT
Andrew Landry
3
72
75
147
CUT
Francesco Molinari
3
76
71
147
CUT
Tom Lewis
3
73
74
147
CUT
Robert MacIntyre
3
74
73
147
CUT
Graeme McDowell
3
73
74
147
CUT
Tony Finau
3
78
69
147
CUT
Scott Stallings
3
76
71
147
CUT
Sam Ryder
3
72
75
147
CUT
Chez Reavie
4
73
75
148
CUT
Cameron Champ
4
75
73
148
CUT
Jason Dufner
4
73
75
148
CUT
Alex Noren
4
78
70
148
CUT
Russell Henley
4
75
73
148
CUT
Ian Poulter
4
77
71
148
CUT
Xander Schauffele
4
76
72
148
CUT
Brandt Snedeker
5
74
75
149
CUT
Sepp Straka
5
74
75
149
CUT
Patrick Cantlay
5
74
75
149
CUT
Keith Mitchell
5
76
73
149
CUT
Carlos Ortiz
5
73
76
149
CUT
Anirban Lahiri
6
78
72
150
CUT
Cameron Davis
6
76
74
150
CUT
Kevin Kisner
6
75
75
150
CUT
Kristoffer Ventura
6
74
76
150
CUT
Rickie Fowler
6
77
73
150
CUT
Austin Cook
6
77
73
150
CUT
Vaughn Taylor
6
76
74
150
CUT
Richy Werenski
7
80
71
151
CUT
Matt Kuchar
7
76
75
151
CUT
Troy Merritt
7
74
77
151
CUT
Beau Hossler
8
74
78
152
CUT
Xinjun Zhang
8
76
76
152
CUT
C.T. Pan
8
78
74
152
CUT
Charl Schwartzel
8
77
75
152
CUT
Wyndham Clark
8
79
73
152
CUT
Jerry Kelly
8
73
79
152
CUT
Matthew NeSmith
9
81
72
153
CUT
Tyler Duncan
9
80
73
153
CUT
Rory McIlroy
10
79
75
154
CUT
Brian Gay
10
80
74
154
CUT
Henrik Norlander
10
80
74
154
CUT
Hudson Swafford
11
82
73
155
CUT
Sung Kang
13
76
81
157
CUT
Jimmy Walker
13
83
74
157
CUT
Maverick McNealy
13
80
77
157
CUT
Sam Burns
13
81
76
157
CUT
Jim Herman
14
81
77
158
CUT
Henrik Stenson
15
85
74
159
CUT
Byeong Hun An
18
83
79
162
CUT
Kyle Stanley
23
83
84
167
WD
Kevin Na
E
81
81
Updated: October 6, 2022